City map Toronto

Points of interest: Your selected categories

Show all

Share article

Good to know

Toronto - a brief overview

Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, and its swirl of different flavours plays a large part in shaping the destination’s rich, welcoming character. Its diversity, however, is by no means restricted to its population – sitting pretty on the shores of Lake Ontario, it’s somewhere that balances

space-age architecture with mellow parkland, hipster bars with high-end boutiques and hushed modern art galleries with clattering food markets. More than two and a half million people call Canada’s largest city home, and it has strong claim to being the country’s cultural heart too.

Bata Shoe Museum

One of Toronto’s – indeed Canada’s – quirkiest attractions, the museum follows the steps of footwear from ancient Egyptian footwear to high-heeled fashion accessories. Its tagline is ‘For the Curious’.

Flight and accommodation

Country information

Country overview

From Banff to Baffin Island, from Tofino to Toronto, Canada is a remarkable country. The world’s second largest country boasts an astonishing diversity of landscapes: rugged, unspoilt coastline abuts immense forests and emerald lakes containing a startling array of wildlife; vast, seemingly endless prairies become jaw-droppingly beautiful mountain ranges;

laid-back, cosmopolitan cities are complemented by remote, quirky outposts. Whether you’re a hardcore adrenaline junkie looking for a backcountry adventure, an explorer heading out on a big road trip, a city lover hunting for cutting-edge culture and fine cuisine or a combination of all the above, Canada ticks all the boxes.

Geography

Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia, covering an area of 9,984,670 sq km (3,855,103 sq miles). It is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean and Alaska, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the northeast by Greenland (across the Nares Strait), and to the south by the ‘Lower 48′ states of the USA.

The landscape is diverse, ranging from the Arctic tundra of the north to the great prairies of the central area. Westward are the Rocky Mountains, and in the southeast are the Great Lakes, the St Lawrence River and Niagara Falls. The country is divided into 10 provinces and three territories.

General knowledge

Key facts

Population: 36.4 million (estimate 2017)

Capital: Ottawa.

Language

Canada is officially bilingual (English and French).

Currency

Canadian Dollar (CAD; symbol C$) = 100 cents. Notes are in denominations of C$100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Coins are in denominations of C$2 and 1, and 25, 10, 5 cents. Although the 1c coin (or penny) remains legal tender, as of 2013 it is being phased out of circulation.

Flight and accommodation

Calendar of events

Winter/Summerlicious

For food fanatics everywhere, Toronto is the place to be in early February and July. Summerlicious, the first two weeks of July, and Winterlicious, the first two weeks of February, are held during the two times of the year when restaurant attendance is typically poor. During the festival, a series of major restaurants across the city offer a limited menu of prix fixe dinners at discounted prices. Lunches usually vary from $15 to $30 while dinners run from $25 to $45 per person.

Pride Week

Up to a million people take to the streets to enjoy this week-long, fun festival of arts and culture celebrating humanity’s diverse sexual and gender identities, histories, cultures, families, friends and lives. Within this broad remit, there is music and theatrical entertainment on 10 stages, a weekend street fair, a Dyke March and a keynote Pride Parade with prizes for the best and most fabulous entrants. Toronto’s Pride Week, the largest in Canada and one of the largest in the world, commences with The Pride Week Proclamation and Flag Raising Ceremony at Toronto City Hall at 12 noon.

Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival

Toronto’s largest theatre and performance festival, this draws 90,000 people over 12 days every year to see more than 155 productions. Events range from dramas to musical extravaganzas to improv and take place in local theatres as well as in unusual spots: playgrounds, parking lots and more. A FringeKids! venue hosts several plays exclusively for children and families. The festival also has a beer tent, two outdoor patios and a free nightly cabaret.

Beaches International Jazz Festival

Jazz musicians from around the world congregate on Toronto’s beaches and lakeside parks for this annual international outdoor festival. Enjoy an eclectic mix of concerts from world-renowned and emerging artists, including swing, dixieland, Latin-inspired tunes and cracking big band performances. A highlight is Streetfest, where Canadian bands entertain the crowds along a 2km (1.2-mile) stretch of Queen Street East.

Caribbean Carnival Toronto

Bringing the taste and colour of the Caribbean to Canada, the Caribbean Carnival Toronto is a whirl of music, cuisine and revelry over a three-week period. As the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America, the streets come to life with calypso, soca, reggae, hip hop and brass bands as well as visual and performing arts. Since it began in 1967, Caribana has expanded to embrace the communities of Jamaica, Guyana, the Bahamas, Brazil and other cultures represented in Toronto.

Tennis Masters Canada (Women)

The Rogers Cup Men’s event and the Rogers Cup Women’s event are each important legs of the ATP Masters Series. They rotate each year between the Rexall Centre in Toronto and the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal. The women’s event attracts the top names in tennis, drawn by big prize money. Record crowds turn up to watch this competition, but there is more than just tennis on offer. The Rogers Cup mixes sport and culture and includes music concerts, Tennis in the Street, and spectacular opening ceremonies.

Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival

Established in 1989, the International Dragon Boat Race Festival is a two-day event that takes place late June in Toronto Centre Island. With over 5,000 athletes on 180 to 200 teams, the race is designed to evoke team spirit and community amongst the players. Teams are not only from Canada, but also come from the US, the Caribbean Islands, Europe, and Asia. During the event, spectators can enjoy booths that display performances by Toronto-based artists of various Caribbean and Latin American cultures.

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival has become the launching pad for the best of international, Hollywood and Canadian cinema, and is recognised as the most important film festival after Cannes. Celebrities from around the world congregate in the city during September for a sparkling round of premiers, parties and galas. Expect to see the likes of Johnny Depp, Ryan Gosling and Robert De Niro being ushered between film premiers.

Cavalcade of Lights

This glittering annual extravaganza kicks off Toronto’s holiday season with the first lighting of Nathan Phillips Square and its exquisite Christmas tree, energetic live music performances and a kaleidoscopic fireworks display. In winter, the square’s tranquil reflecting pool is transformed into a lively outdoor ice rink. Hire skates and glide beneath a canopy of twinkling stars strung below the Freedom Arches.

Winter Wonderland Parade

December 2018

Venue: Various venue

On the first Saturday of December, visitors can witness the beautiful spectacle that is Ontario’s annual Winter Wonderland Christmas Parade. It is the largest Christmas Parade in the region, and despite the cold, many spectators gather to watch the local entries of floats and marching bands.

All information subject to change. Please check the dates on the relevant event organizer’s website.

Even if some parts of downtown Tallinn do look straight out of the Middle Ages, the restaurants are bang up to date! The creative newcomers’ take on their country’s traditional fare is as young and exciting as the Estonian capital itself – modern, laid-back, Scandinavian. In the winter especially, they hark back to ingredients that grow in the ground, like beetroots, carrots, parsnips and black salsifies.

These, along with fish and meat sourced from small regional producers, are served with buckwheat, potatoes or quinoa. While the price of a meal out in Sweden and Finland could spoil your appetite, in Tallinn, a main course will rarely cost more than an affordable 15 euros. Join us on a culinary tour.

Leib

“Leib” is the Estonian word for black bread. The atmosphere and food at the Leib is as simple, fresh and honest as that traditional food itself: On the menu, you’ll find traditional Estonian dishes, like cauliflower soup with cheese, lamb with stout sauerkraut, as well as crème brûlée on – guess what? – black bread. Chef Jano Lepik and sommelier Kristjan Peäske offer haute cuisine made from regional produce, their own home-smoked fish, and meat they barbecue in the restaurant garden – where a cozy terrace beckons in the summer.

Rataskaevu 16

This cozy restaurant in the old town serves magical dishes conjured from fresh produce. For starters, you can order mild smoked herring served warm on cottage cheese – an Estonian classic that tastes particularly good here. Most of the dishes are presented with such artistry that you almost feel you shouldn’t eat them. Happily, your appetite will ultimately win the day. After all, who would willingly send back an avocado salad with zucchini pasta?

Vegan Restoran V

What the chefs at this vegan restaurant (hence the “V”) cook up without resorting to meat or dairy products borders on sorcery: creamy apple, cucumber and mint soup, celeriac schnitzel with fresh beansprouts, pasta with frittered tofu and black beans, and for dessert: berry cake on a chocolate base. Right next door at the Rataskaevu, the owner of the “V” runs two more restaurants: the Aed (garden) and the Vanaema Juures (grandmother’s living room). There, too, you will find excellent classic Estonian treats, like roast beef with fried potatoes, and kama, a dessert made from rolled oats and yoghurt.

Nop

Take the streetcar over to Kadriorg, the museum and park district with all the quaint wooden houses and you will soon find yourself outside the Nop café. At 8 a.m. on weekdays, the café starts serving super-healthy breakfasts, like homemade smoothies, toasted muesli on yoghurt and sinfully sweet potato pancakes – all organic, all delicious and all lovingly prepared. In the adjoining shop, you can stock up on provisions for a walk to the castle or any other outings you may have in mind.

F-Hoone

Never enjoyed a snack in an old factory building? Well, it’s about time you did, and on the former industrial site on Telliskivi Street that’s rapidly gaining a name for itself as a creative campus, Telliskivi Loomelinnak, you can. Not only have design and fashion stores moved in here, but also unusual restaurants, like the F-Hoone in building F, where, beneath a ceiling five meters high, patrons can tuck into traditional fare, like solyanka and borsht, or a salad with grilled goat’s cheese and fig chutney. Prices here are very fair.

Klaus

A few hundred meters outside the old town walls, the otherwise picturesque Tallinn takes on a few rough edges – down by the harbor, for instance. There, at the stylish Klaus restaurant, you can order tasty snacks, like quinoa salad with beetroot and pomegranate seeds or a pulled pork sandwich of surprising proportions laced with hummus and mustard dressing. If you like, you can also browse the Estonian arts and crafts in the adjoining concept store, which also stocks some nice clothes.

Tuljak

A whacky place that was famous for its superb cuisine even in the Soviet era. The restaurant is built on a small hill beside Tallinn Bay. On the other side of the 25-meter-long window front, you have an excellent view of the Baltic, with just a few trees in between. The lounge music in the background is perfect, the cocktails are served in copper beakers, and the food is sensational. Take the Caesar’s Salad, for instance, which resembles a shaggy green tennis ball. The mashed potato accompanying the fish main course comes inside a caramelized leek, and the tiramisu for dessert is as flat as a pancake and arranged at the edge of the plate. It’s definitely a good idea to reserve a table.

wind speed

7 days forecast

Climate & best time to visit Canada

If you’re planning on skiing or enjoying winter sports, the best time to visit Canada is between December and April, though some resorts open as early as November and extend their seasons as late as June (or even July on Whistler’s glacier). If you want to enjoy the great outdoors without the snow, travel between May and September. Be aware however, that if there’s been heavy snowfall during the winter, some high-altitude hiking trails may be closed well into July. May, June and September are typically cheaper than July and August, but you’ll get the best of the weather in the latter two months.

Summer thunderstorms are common throughout Canada. Occasionally, these may become severe. Tornados also occur throughout Canada, with May to September being prime months. The peak season is June and early July in southern Ontario, Alberta, southeastern Quebec, and a band stretching from southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, through to Thunder Bay. The interior of British Columbia and western New Brunswick are also tornado zones. Earth tremors occur in the western mountains. Forest fires can occur at any time, regardless of the season, particularly in the grasslands and forests of western Canada.

Flight and accommodation

Phone calls & Internet

Telephone/Mobile Telephone

Dialing Code: +1

Telephone

Most public telephones charge 50 cents a call, which can be paid with any combination of five-, 10- and 25-cent coins. Public telephones are becoming harder to find, due to the growing popularity of mobile phones. For long-distance calls, telephone cards are available. You can find credit card telephones in larger centres.

Mobile Telephone

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is good in major urban areas, but spotty in remote locations. Roaming rates can be high, so you should check with your provider before leaving home.

Internet

Available throughout Canada, as are internet cafes (although the latter are not as common as they are in many other countries). You can often find free Wi-Fi hotspots in coffee shops, fast-food outlets and airports.

Flight and accommodation

Shopping in Toronto

Key Areas

The city’s main shopping drag is Queen Street West, where you’ll find everything from comic-book shops to hot new design boutiques, alongside a whole host of more familiar stores. If haute couture’s your thing, the stylish Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood is where to head.

Markets

Kensington Market (Kensington Avenue) is a warren of vintage stalls and retro retailers, making it a great bet for one-off finds,

while a complex of a very different kind – St Lawrence Market (92-95 Front Street East) – is where to come when you’ve worked up an appetite. It’s considered one of the world’s best food markets.

Shopping Centres

The inescapable Eaton Centre (220 Yonge Street) is right in the heart of downtown affairs and houses more than 230 retailers. Elsewhere, the vast Yorkdale Shopping Centre (3401 Dufferin Street) is another important mall, playing home to – among others – the famous department store Holt Renfrew.

Flight and accommodation

Traveller etiquette

Social Conventions

Handshaking predominates as the normal mode of greeting. Close friends often exchange kisses on the cheeks, particularly in French-speaking areas. Codes of practice for visiting homes are the same as in other Western countries: flowers,

chocolates or a bottle of wine are common gifts for hosts, and dress is generally informal and practical according to climate. It is common for black tie and other required dress to be indicated on invitations. Exclusive clubs and restaurants often require more formal dress. Smoking has been banned in most public areas.

Flight and accommodation

Health

Main emergency number: 911

Food & Drink

Tap water is safe to drink and food safety standards are high. If camping in the backcountry, you should be aware of the risks of giardia, where water in streams or lakes has been contaminated by animal waste. This can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and headaches. Ensure you boil, filter or purify water first; purification tablets are easy to buy in any outdoor equipment store. You should also be aware of the dangers of eating shellfish directly from the sea, which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, resulting in illness or death. Check locally before you travel.

Other Risks

Summer can bring extremely high temperatures, so you should guard against the problems of heat and sunstroke. Wear sunscreen to prevent sunburn, particularly on days when the widely publicised UV rating is high. (Remember that sunburn can be a risk in winter too, especially if you’re skiing, when the high altitude and reflection from the snow can be a potent combination.) In winter, on the other hand, temperatures can be bitterly cold and frostbite is a real risk; ensure you wear multiple layers and a hat, and cover your face when outdoors.

Rabies is present in animals. For those at high risk, vaccination before arrival should be considered. If you are bitten, seek medical advice without delay.

An outbreak of hepatitis A was reported in Vancouver Island in 2011, but most cases have been confined to one cultural group on the island. Vaccination against hepatitis A is not advised unless you’re visiting the outbreak area.

If walking in tick-infested woodland and brush areas, you should be aware of the risk of Lyme disease. Ensure you cover bare skin (tucking in all clothes), use insect repellent containing DEET and remove any attached ticks using tweezers. The disease is transmitted from the bites of the western blacklegged tick in British Columbia and the blacklegged or deer tick in other parts of Canada. Since 2010, there has been an increased risk in southern Quebec due to newly discovered populations of ticks carrying the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The first symptom is usually a circular rash, accompanied by fatigue, chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and swollen lymph nodes. You should seek treatment as soon as possible as symptoms can worsen if left untreated, though fatalities are rare.

Flight and accommodation

Visa & Immigration

IATA Travel Centre

The IATA Travel Centre delivers accurate passport, visa and health requirement information at a glance. It is a trusted, centralized source for the latest international travel requirements. The IATA Travel Centre is the most accurate source available because it is based on a comprehensive database used by virtually every airline, and information is gathered from official sources worldwide, such as immigration and police authorities.

Flight and accommodation

Best of Vilnius

The Baltic is famous for its amber – and amber jewelry makes the perfect Lithuanian souvenir

This gallery is located at the entrance to picturesque Užupis, Vilnius’ artists’ district

The medieval heart of the university consists of 13 inner courtyards framed by arcades and galleries

In the windows of houses in the Jewish ghetto, photos preserve the memory of the victims and their fate

Džiugas, a tangy local hard cheese, tastes great with beer, red wine – and, of course, on bread

Lithuania’s typical dumplings served with creamy sauce are also on the menu at the Forto Davaras

The Leiciai restaurant and brewery serves beer brewed on the premises

The Alaus Namai serves draft beer from breweries all over Lithuania

The Lithuanian capital is like a collage created from elements and images of every type and style. Baroque, Gothic and Renaissance church towers rise from the old-town ocean of magnificent, red-roofed buildings. Its opulent palaces recently provided the perfect setting for the BBC’s filming of an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

Some 50 000 Jews lived in these narrow streets before World War II, earning the city the by-name “Jerusalem of the North.” The Socialist-Realist sculptures of farm laborers and workers which today line Green Bridge over the River Neris are a legacy from the Soviet era. With its many historical buildings, Vilnius is quintessentially European, and as a World Cultural Heritage Site enjoys UNESCO protection.

Amber Shop

Amber jewelry makes a perfect Lithuanian souvenir. Amber is fossilized resin and comes in variety of shades, ranging from white to dark brown. it can be opaque or transparent. Pieces with embedded insects and plant material are particularly fascinating. There’s a long tradition of amber craftsmanship in Lithuania.

Užupis Galera art gallery

The gallery and “art incubator” are located at the entrance to Užupis, the picturesque artists’ district, which has often been compared to Paris’s Montmartre and the Christiania settlement in Copenhagen. In Soviet times, Užupis was quite run down, but many artists moved into the cheap buildings there after Lithuania gained independence and gradually cleaned up and improved the area. Užupis has since been declared an artists’ republic and has its own national anthem and constitution. If you wish, you can record your entry into the republic by having your passport stamped.

University of Vilnius

The university was established in 1579 and counts among Europe’s oldest. Several Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings spread across an entire neighborhood belong to the university, which is dominated by the tallest, the 68-meter-high bell tower. The medieval heart of the university comprises 13 inner courtyards framed by arcades and galleries. The library, with its magnificent reading rooms, is also truly worth seeing. Today, the university has 12 faculties, seven institutes and four study and research centers with over 20 000 students.

The large and small ghettos

The medieval Jewish quarter surrounding the Great Synagogue on Žydų Street was cordoned off with barbed wire following the German invasion of Lithuania in September 1941, and initially became the small, then later the large ghetto, in which approximately 30 000 people were penned up. By the time the ghetto was evacuated in 1943, most of them had been shot dead and the survivors deported to Latvia and Estonia.

Džiugas Cheese House

Džiugas, a hard cheese that matures for between 12 and 48 months, is one of the most popular Lithuanian specialties. Full-flavored and aromatic, its slightly salty flavor goes perfectly with red wine. At the Džiugas shop, you can also purchase other Lithuanian delicacies.

Forto Dvaras restaurant

Pilies gatvė 16 0112 Vilnius Tel. +370 656 13688 Show on map

Typical Lithuanian dishes – various combinations of potatoes and meat, often with creamy mushroom sauces – are what you will find on the menu here. The decor is rustic, the atmosphere warm and welcoming, and the place is almost always full.

Leiciai restaurant and brewery

This restaurant is housed in a historical building in the old town. It serves mainly traditional Lithuanian fare and a wide selection of Lithuanian beers, including what comes out of its own microbrewery.

Alaus Namai pub

Every week, breweries from all over Lithuania deliver their best draught beers to this pub – 18 different kinds in all, so there should be one to suit every taste. In addition to these, the menu also includes around 100 imported beer labels. And if hunger strikes, you won’t be disappointed on that score, either.

Crowded and still pretty laid back: Since it opened in 2006, the Beaver has earned itself a loyal clientele

The Fawn boutique is the first address for exceptional women’s fashions

Toronto is not like other major cities. It’s more tolerant, more cosmopolitan and also more friendly; a city in which cultural and ethnic diversity have long become a naturally accepted part of daily life. You get a sense of this in many places – at Wanda’s Pie in the Sky café in the alternative Kensington Market neighborhood, for instance, when your homemade cake is brought to you by a waitress with a full-body tattoo. Or when the – allegedly – famous Peameal Bacon on a Bun is practically forced on you at the Carousel Bakery in the nostalgic St. Lawrence market hall – for free, of course. Or when you’re listening to the sold-out concert of a pretty laid-back cover band at The Drake, your hotel in the hip West Queen West neighborhood, and a local you happen to get talking to asks incredulously: “The Drake’s a hotel that actually rents out rooms?”

It turns out that he regularly comes here, but not to spend the night: The Drake is a kind of cultural center for West Queen West. And the name “West Queen West” for one of the most interesting corners of Toronto is not a mistaken duplication, by the way: Queen Street West is a very long street, but only its western section – the 15 blocks between Bathurst Street and Gladstone Avenue – is considered hip and vibrant. That’s where a lively art and culture scene has sprung up, with offbeat boutiques and gastronomic establishments of every flavor. “A vibrant scene has found itself a common roof in The Drake Hotel,” is how Canadian food blogger Andrew Dobson explains the phenomenon: “You can spend a whole week in West Queen West without feeling you’re wasting your time.”

The Drake

The Drake Hotel has established itself as a lively mix of local trendy hangout and laid-back urban boutique hotel with just 19 attractive rooms, each with a different decor. For locals, it’s the most important meeting place in the neighborhood thanks to its program of live acts, well-frequented rooftop bar and excellent café on the ground floor. Bonus: Next to the reception desk, there’s a retro passport photo machine that’s a huge hit with Toronto’s partygoers.

Nota Bene

Hip new restaurant serving modern Canadian fare with a good range of vegan and vegetarian options. As you sit in the large and elaborately designed dining room, you can’t help noticing that no expense was spared on the interior designer’s fee. If you’re lucky enough to have Martin from Jena in Germany waiting at your table, you can also look forward to some particularly honest and competent views on the wine list.

Docs Leather Shop

The neighborhood regards Doc as its philosopher and conscience. His two-story mix of motorcycle leathergoods shop, retro memorabilia and photo museum – he snaps anyone wearing a biker vest and hangs the photos on the wall for posterity – is a popular haunt for locals with a particular fascination for all things biking-related.

Type Books

At this “brilliant little chocolate box for bibliophiles,” there’s a family atmosphere and a clearly organized, because rigorously curated, selection of books. The store simply wishes not to present its clients with printed trash. So it somehow makes sense that the booksellers themselves also write. Derek McCormack for one has just published a splendid collection of short stories.

Atomic Design

Since 2008, the young designer Lawrence Blairs has been running the colorful, but style-themed furniture design store Atomic Design, which specializes in Canadian contemporary and mid-century design. Available articles include pieces by Ray & Charles Eames, Ingo Maurer and Victor Vasarely.

The Paper Place

A temple for paper lovers. This store will even order the favorite material of designers, graphic artists and illustrators is occasionally from Japan, if the customer so wishes. From paper flowers to elegant coffee-table books, this is the place to find the most beautiful paper.

Harlem Underground

Soul food at this eatery means Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean cuisine with a modern twist. But we wouldn’t be in Toronto if it weren’t also about making a stand: “We want to celebrate the city’s ethnic and cultural diversity.” Our tip: Try the southern fried chicken and waffle …

The Beaver

Extremely laid-back hangout with a carelessly funky decor that since 2006 has earned itself a loyal clientele with regular DJ events and live gigs – lots of drag and burlesque, but also karaoke. Best come lightly dressed because the place is small, so it’s very, very communicative.

Brodawka & Friends

Before Jeff Brodawka opened his extraordinary shoe boutique in Toronto four years ago, the man with a degree in industrial design worked for John Fluevog in Vancouver. No wonder, then, that his product portfolio is very different from those of “normal” shoe stores. Sometimes garish, sometimes classic, often a little provocative, his shoes all have one thing in common: top handcrafted quality. One of his quotes tells us where his creative inspiration comes from: “When I was in London, seeing my first Paul Smith store was a revelation.”

Fawn

Aside from designer Angela Phung’s The Store in Queen (719 West Queen West), Fawn, Kasha Bilobram’s original vintage-style boutique, has since 2007 established itself as a prime address for unusual women’s fashion. Fawn is often the first address for Asian and American upcoming labels, such as In God We Trust, Uzi, Markoo, and A Detacher by Polish designer Monika Kowalska.